Failing to Move On
by MyLifeOnAPoster
Summary: (not how it sounds. its a happy story, really) Moving on is hard. Leaving friends behind and moving on is harder. And when a lost friend returns to you in a moment of need? That's the best you could ask for. It's also the best you can get.


Welcome, my friends, to my first fragile hearts fanfiction. I watched Cry play it a few days ago and while I hated the ending, it was a good game overall.

And so, without further ado...

It's storytime, motherfuckers.

Seto grunted as he hauled himself up onto the small slab of metal that Crow was currently doing a handstand on. Crow flipped over and dangled the locket in front of the red-head's face. Seto gritted his teeth and pulled himself up, struggling to maintain balance on the small bar. He wobbled as he stepped for Crow. The black-haired boy across from him grinned. "You're braver than I thought."

Seto wobbled slightly, then lunged for his locket. There was a squeaking sound like someone's wet hand being dragged accross a window as his foot slipped. "Ah- _Ahh!_ " He cried, struggling to regain his balance as he teetered backwards. Crow's eyes widened in horror, as did Seto's, as Seto fell backwards. Seto screamed and Crow yelled.

Unable to watch himself plummet to his death, Seto corvered his face with his arms and squeezed his eyes shut tight. However, his short freefall was cut off as something wrapped around his ankle and jerked him to a halt. "Holy fuck." Crow breathed. He currently hung upside down with both hands wrapped around Seto's ankles, like a trapeze artist without the swinging.

Crow took a breath as the panic in his chest vanished before calling out to the redhead he'd almost gotten killed. "Hey, Lose-Uh, Seto. Are, uh- Are you okay?" There was silence for a moment. "...Am I dead yet...?" Seto asked, not moving his arms and keeping his eyes shut. Crow heaved a sigh of relief. "I should hope not, I risked _my_ ass grabbing you. Holy shit I think I just had a heart attack."

Though Crow knew that he didn't actually have a physical heart, the expression seemed fitting for the clenching feeling he had had in his chest. "I don't know what that is-" Seto replied in a high-pitched, strained voice, "-but it sounds appropriate in this situation, though I'm not exactly sure how. ...Can you please pull me up now?" Crow couldn't help it. He laughed. "Pfft, hahaha! It's not even funny, but-pfft!"

Seto gave a shaky laugh. "Yeah, it does seem kind of random. But seriously, I'm getting light headed. Crow heaved a sigh. He could joke. Awesome. "Alright, here- reach up and give me your hand. Seto slowly removed his arms from his eyes before stretching his arm out hesitantly. Crow released the red-heads ankle with one hand, that same hand shooting out to grip Seto's outstretched wrist.

"Now reach up with your other hand, and don't freak out like a cry baby, because I'm going to let go of your ankle to grab your hand." Seto had no reason to trust him, but he just nodded and reached. Swiftly, Crow's hand flew from Seto's ankle to clasp his other wrist. Seto yelped as his leg, with nothing holding it, swung downwards, jerking his body and loosening his tenuous hold on Crow.

Seto's eyes widened in horror, but Crow clenched his sharp teeth and narrowed his cat-like eyes. "Chill." he growled through clenched teeth. "I have you, you big baby." The insults were a distraction. But they weren't just to distract Seto. They were to keep Crow from pondering the fact that if he loosened his grip for a split second, this naive kid who had chased him around the amusement park all night and risked his life just to get a stupid trinket back was going to die.

So he maintained his grip, not letting up for even a heartbeat. He took a breath and said, "Y'know, this view is amazing." Seto looked at him like he was crazy and he grinned. With a grunt, Crow pulled Seto upwards. "Okay, grab my coat and start pulling yourself up to the bar. I'm not gonna drop you, so don't cry about it." Seto rolled his eyes at the unnecessary remark and gripped Crow's coat.

Crow adjusted his grip as Seto started pulling himself up. He grabbed Seto's leg and pushed him upwards. Soon, Seto was hanging on to the bar, panting. Crow leaned up, grabbing the bar and pulling himself up. "...Uh. You okay?" Seto was wheezing, his shoulders trembling as he panted. It took Crow a inute to realize that the idiot was _laughing._

"What the hell?" Crow managed as Seto began full on cackling. "Wh-What the hell are you laughing about?! You almost died!"

"And who's fault was that? Besides, I'm not laughing because it was funny. I'm laughing because I'm relieved."

"Oh. Well that's something you should definintely be feeling right about now. Uh. How about we talk more once we get down from he-!" Crow yelped as he went to stand up, only to have his foot slip. "Oh, fu-" was all he managed before he started falling. " _Crow!_ " screamed Seto. Crow resisted the urge to snicker. This loser didn't know he was only a robot, and that falling this high qouldn't harm him.

With a flick of his wrist, he sent the locket back to its owner. A moment later, he hit the merry-go-round, crashing through the roof and slamming into the ride. " _ **Crow!**_ " Crow groaned mentally. _Ugh. I think a circuit got knocked loose._ In his head, the sound of his voice echoed _Error. Error. Resetting systems. Estimated restart time: twenty seconds._

 _Twenty second, huh? Alright._ Crow let his head fall as his systems reset. When he came back, he heard that boy, Seto, yelling for him. "Crow!"

"Hey! I'll have you know I ain't never cried a day in my life!"

"Crow! I thought- I thought you were-"

"Heh heh. Not quite. Anyway, I guess this means I lost."

~*U*~

The two stayed together, talking, well into the night. When they finally parted ways, Seto asked, "Will I see you again?" Crow grinned before quoting Pirate Isle. "Of course! Friends always see each other again, and we're friends now!"

Soon, they parted ways, but not before Crow gave Seto a skull ring and a kiss. _Crow_ had thought that was a totally normal thing to do, but Seto's reaction proved otherwise. Or did it? _Meh. He's been isolated. He probably just doesn't understand that that's what friends do. Whatever._

When he parted from Seto and began searching for the lab, Crow managed to find it relatively quickly. All he found, however, was an abandoned place with two skeletons and a heap of blood. With some searching, he found a few photographs and a pamphlet about how he was created. He put all of these in his jacket before leaving. He stopped when he felt weak.

"Oh no... _Fuck! No!_ " He clenched his teeth. _It's my battery! It has to be... No! I can't shut down! I promised Seto that I'd...That I'd see him again... Grr..._ He clenched his teeth and darted off, each step draining his lifeline a little more.

~*U*~

 _This is it._ Crow thought as he repeated the words "My best friend" over and over in a mechanical voice. He could hardly see that stupid, bright blue coat of Seto's, thesame one he'd been wearing when he'd almost fallen to his death, and when Crow _had_ fallen. His eyes focused for a moment more. "Seto... Thank you." His vision faded, but before his systems crashed, he heard the ghost say, "Seto... He's shut down.

Crow wanted to smile when Seto replied, "No. He died."

 _Died, huh? Sounds better than shut down..._

 _Warning: battery reaching critical levels. Entering hibernation._

 _Heh. Even if "died" isn't how I'd put it._

And then there was nothing.

~*U*~

" _Are you ready? Show me what you're made of! You're almost there!_ " Seto heard Crow's encouraging voice. "Crow!" _This has to all be in my head! PF, Chiyo, now Crow... Am I imagining it all?!_ " _Oh, don't get so excited. I said I was your friend, right? And because we're friends, we gotta look out for each other_."

"...Thanks, Crow." Seto resisted the urge to cry. Crow's voice laughed. " _No problem. Now don't kill yourself, but_ give 'im all you got!" Seto wanted to cry out, to beg Crow not to go, but instead, he marched on, determined to stop Shin from starting the Glass Project. He clenched his teeth. _Time to kick ass!_ He would finish this. For PF. For Chiyo. For Sai. For the silver-haired girl.

For his best friend, Crow.

~*U*~

Crow sat alone in the dark room full of wrecked automatons. His battery had died days ago. If he had been conscious, he would have wondered about Seto. Had his friend defeated the prick he'd been after? He knew that Seto had gotten his last message through the skull ring that Crow had left him, that he had used the tiny amount of juice left in his batteries to send, the last of it, and that had alllowed him to deactivate-no, die-a little more at ease, knowing that Seto knew that Crow would support him til the end, which had come very soon for the robot boy after he sent his final message.

~*U*~

Footsteps made small _tmp tmp tmp_ sounds that echoed throughout the room. The girl with round silver eyes and long blue hair strode into the room. A red streak to the left of her face adorned her hair. Her black shirt and pants were worn under a leather coat of the same color. She shuddered as the cold winter wind danced over her bare feet. _I need to find shoes._ She thought.

She walked through the tunnel, then froze when it opened into a large room. "Oh, Crow." She relaxed as she whispered his name fondly. "You worked your battery too hard. You should have been functional for another sixty four years, if I remember correctly." She crept towards him and touched his face. "Ugh, you foolish, irresponsible..."

Sighing, she grabbed his arm and dragged it over her shoulders. "Let's get you out of here." She started to half-carry, half drag him towards the exit. When she came out of the dam, she pulled of his jewelry as well as his shirt and jacket. She sat him up and opened a panel on his chest. She snorted. "You fool. How long were you in the dark? I was right, your battery should still be working. You've just been neglecting it."

She cleaned the dust and spiderwebs out, before pulling a small box from inside his chest. She opened it and took off her necklace, which had been hidden under her clothes. She placed the necklace in the box before replacing it in his chest. She laughed a bit. "Hmm. Your solar panels haven't been used in a while." She added as she examined his back.

She ruffled his black hair, sending some dust into the air. With a sigh, she opened another panel on his back and looked at the solar panels hidden there. "Hm... Good condition. But theres a loose wire here... Ah, so that's how his battery died. He must have been jumping around and this wire got disconnected, allowing his battery to completely deplete." She reattached it before closing the panel again.

She glanced up at the cold winter sun. "Now you should recharge in no- time?!" She gasped as his fingers wrapped around her wrist and he yanked her towards him. Crow's cat-like eyes flashed open, the green orbs glaring at the girl. "Who are you? What did you do to me? ...Why am I shirtless?" The last question sounded more confused than demanding.

The girl slapped him. "Let go of me." Crow blinked. "You! You were in a picture I found at that lab." The girl shrugged. "You... Who are you? Where did you come from? Did you change my battery?! My battery was dead." The girl snorted. "No. Your battery is solar powered. But the panels were disconnected."

Crow stared. "How did you know?"

"I looked in your back."

"No, I mean how did you know that my battery was solar powered?" The girl sighed.

"ere, I have somewhere to be, so I'll give you the brief version. I helped to create you. Originally, you were to be a shell for my brother's soul, but you developed a mind of your own. When we created you, we created you with a lifespan so that his soul wouldn't be forced to live on for hundreds of years while everyone he loved died. That's another reason I knew you couldn't be dead. You're only sixteen. Your lifespan is seventy years, give or take five."

"You mean... I'll die one day? Like humans do?"

"Yes. You're also capable of human emotion, though you appear to have been repressing it."

"But... I'm just a robot." The girl snorted. "So what? Ugh, I don't have time for this." With a grunt, she stood up. "Your things are over there. Bye."

"Hey! You're just going to leave me here?" Snow began to fall as the blue-haired girl replied, "You're a big robot. You can take care of yourself." She turned slightly, looking back at Crow. "Besides. I have a friend who needs me." Her silver eyes glinted. "Maybe you'll find someone who will rely on you someday." She turned around and started walking as the snow picked up.

"Hey wait! What's your name?!" She called back, "If it was important, you'd know it!" Crow sat there for a moment, letting his mind wander. "Someone who will rely onme, huh? Hm..." His eyes widened. "Seto!" he breathed. "Seto was off to face some bad guy! Shit, I have to find him! I have to know if..." He shook his head furiously. He wouldn't even entertain the thought.

 _I_ will _find him._

~*U*~

Seto tripped on a rock and fell on his face. "Ack! Ouch!" he hissed. He let out a sigh. It had only been two weeks since he'd rescued Ren and saved the remnants of the human race, but already he was alone again. Ren had left the night before, leaving a note about how she wanted to find her own path or something like that. Seto hauled himself to his feet. "I don't want to be alone..." He whispered to himself.

But he was. PF was dead, Crow was dead, Sai had vanished with Shin, and now Ren had left him. He was alone. He sighed. "I have to find other people. I can't be alone." He started walking once more.

He paused when he came to a familiar area. A merry-go-round sat with a large gap in the roof. A little ways way from that, a Ferris Wheel was abandoned. "This is where Crow and I..." Seto hadn't even realized that he'd wandered all the way back to the abandoned amusement park. He let out a sigh as he found his way to the teacups and sat in one. _I hid here. Crow had my locket and I hid in here in order to surprise him._

Seto resisted the urge to cry at th thought of the other teen who, though he had been a robot, had become his best friend in a matter of a few hours. Seto sighed and stood up. "I need to look for more people." He told himself. As soon as he stepped into the grass, however, a growling noise alerted him to three or four large hellhounds. "Oh no."

Seto pulled out his rusted pipe and braced himself as the dogs all charged.

~*U*~

"I never thought I'd find myself back here." Crow murmured thoughtfully as he glanced around the amusement park. The place was dead except a few evil birds, which, he supposed, _were_ dead. The loud barking of hellhounds alerted him to the fact that someone was so fucked right now. Crow started following the howling and barking. There was a cry of pain and a snarl, and then there was only the sound of growling.

Crow followed that, a horrible feeling in his chest. When he found the source, he froze. Four hellhounds circled a blue-clad body on the ground. The grass hid most of his features, but Crow recognized that coat. _Se...to...! N-...No...!_

 **Don't fret, children. This is only the beginning. Peace motherfuckers.**


End file.
